1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission device for transmitting particular information to a terminal device that is connected to the transmission device via an information line.
2. Description of the Related Art
The inventors of the present invention have proposed a communication system having the capability, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-58463, to display information about a caller on the screen of a telephone device when the telephone device receives a telephone call.
However, a problem with this communication system is that it is not easy to read the information about the caller displayed on the display device of the telephone device because the size of the display device is generally small.
The inventors of the present invention have also proposed telephone exchange apparatus having voice mail capability, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,172, and in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-338948. The telephone exchange apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,172 has the capability to display information on a telephone device to indicate that there is a voice mail addressed to the telephone device.
In the telephone exchange apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-338948, the telephone number of the person who has produced the voice message is indicated when the voice message is reproduced.
However, the problem with using a voice mail is that a user often does not notice the indication of the arrival of the voice mail because the indication is displayed on a small-sized display device provided on a telephone device.
Another problem is that the user cannot know the contents of voice mails until they are reproduced, and due to the reproduction time, it takes a long time to know the contents of the voice mails. In particular, this problem becomes serious when there are a large number of voice mails.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for displaying information useful for a user to answer an incoming call in such a manner that the user can easily read it.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a technique that makes it possible for a substitute answerer to properly answer an incoming call when a user to whom the incoming call is addressed cannot answer the call.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a quick and highly reliable technique that makes it possible for a user to be informed of the arrival of a message and its contents.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a technique for answering an incoming call using a personal computer in a highly effective fashion in which the advantages of the personal computer are utilized.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a high-flexibility apparatus connected to an internal line of a private branch exchange that is capable of providing information useful for a user at another extension device other than the originally called extension device to properly answer an incoming call.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of determining the status of the internal line to which an incoming call is addressed, and transmitting an electronic mail including useful information depending on the status of the internal line.
These and other objects and features will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.